Flood barrier

ABSTRACT

A flood barrier for blocking the flow of water into a building opening comprises a frame and a panel mutually-engageable therewith. The frame has a base element and a pair of spaced upright elements and is permanently sealed to a building around an opening thereof. The panel is releasably attachable to the frame such as to extend between the upright elements. The frame may also comprise an upper element such that the frame surrounds the building opening. The base element has a hook element which urges the panel into sealing contact with the frame.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0001] (a) Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for resisting ingress of flood water into domestic, commercial and industrial premises.

[0003] (b) Description of Prior Art

[0004] Damage to buildings from flood waters is principally caused by the ingress of such waters through openings—e.g. doorways and air bricks—in the external walls of the building and, to a lesser extent, via holes for incoming and outgoing services. In the past, attempts to resist such ingress have involved the use of sand bags piled up across the openings. Filling sand bags is a very time consuming and arduous operation, and usually requires two people to perform the task. Furthermore, deploying the filled sand bags across the openings is also time consuming and arduous. Where buildings are located in areas which are subject to flooding, e.g. in the flood plain of rivers, buildings insurance can be very costly, or even unobtainable. If such a building has been flooded in the past, its sale value can be depressed and the building may be rendered unmortgageable.

[0005] It is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for preventing, or at least resisting, ingress of flood water into buildings through openings in their external walls. The present invention provides such a system, which is very easy to install, even by those who are elderly or partially disabled, and may be used for protecting any building against water ingress via openings in any external walls of that building.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] According to one aspect of this invention there is provided anti-flooding apparatus for at least resisting ingress of flood water through an opening of a building, said apparatus comprising:

[0007] a frame having a pair of spaced apart upright elements, a base element extending therebetween, and a hook element provided on the base element, said frame being adapted for permanent sealed attachment to a building about an opening thereof; and

[0008] a panel adapted for releasable attachment to said frame such that said panel extends between said upright elements and is urged against said upright elements and said base element by said hook element thereby to provide sealed engagement.

[0009] According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method for at least resisting ingress of flood water through an opening of a building, said method comprising the steps of:

[0010] permanently attaching a frame to a building about an opening thereof, said frame having a pair of spaced apart upright elements, a base element extending therebetween, and a hook element provided on the base element;; and

[0011] releasably attaching a panel to the frame, such that said panel extends between the upright elements of the frame and is urged against said upright elements and the base element by the hook element, thereby to provide sealed engagement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Preferred embodiments of this invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective sketch of a first part of apparatus according to a first embodiment of this invention for use across a doorway;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a perspective sketch of a second part of the apparatus according to the first embodiment and for releasable attachment to the part illustrated in FIG. 1;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective sketch of apparatus according to a second embodiment of this invention for use across a doorway and showing both parts of the apparatus;

[0016]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective sketch of apparatus according to a third embodiment of this invention for use across an airbrick;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a modification of a first part of the apparatus of FIG. 4; and

[0018]FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of another modification of a first part of the apparatus of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] The present invention may be attached around an opening of a building, such as a doorway or airbrick, to provide protection, or at least resistance, against the ingress of flood waters therethrough.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of apparatus according to the present invention, the panel is provided with a depending element adapted for engagement with the hook element on the frame. The panel may thus be brought into registration with the frame by inserting said depending element between the hook element and the upright elements, and pivoting the panel about the hook element.

[0021] Advantageously, and especially where said building opening is an airbrick, the frame may additionally comprise an upper element extending between the upright side elements such that the frame can encompass the building opening, and the panel is releasably attachable to the frame such as to extend also between the base element and the upper element.

[0022] Advantageously the hook element comprises a connecting element extending between the base element and an upwardly extending projection directed at an acute angle to the connecting element.

[0023] Preferably said depending element extends at an obtuse angle to the front plane of the panel.

[0024] Preferably, the hook element extends along the entire length of the base element, and the depending element extends along the entire length of an edge of the panel.

[0025] The said acute and obtuse angles are preferably supplementary (i.e. together equal 180°). Advantageously, and especially where said building opening is a doorway, the panel may be provided with mutually spaced, upwardly directed recesses to accommodate the upright elements of the frame—when providing said sealed engagement.

[0026] Preferably, a layer of sealing material is applied to the inward face of the panel to provide said sealing engagement when the frame and the panel are brought together.

[0027] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0028] The anti-flooding apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 is for preventing, or at least resisting ingress of floodwater through a doorway opening of a building. The apparatus comprises a frame 11 and panel 12 mutually engageable therewith. The frame 11 as shown in FIG. 1, has a base element 21 extending between a pair of spaced apart upright elements 22, 23 and for permanent sealed attachment to the building about the building's doorway opening. Such permanent sealed attachment is effected by bolting the frame 11 to the wall of the building about the door frame, and injecting a mastic or other suitable sealant between the abutting surfaces. The panel 12 is releasably attachable to the frame 11 such that, when engaged, the panel 12 extends between the two upright elements 22, 23 and provides sealed engagement against the upright elements 22, 23 and the base element 21.

[0029] The base element 21 is provided throughout its length with an element 25 of generally hook-like cross-section, directed inwardly with respect to the opening, and the bottom edge of the panel 12 is provided with a flat depending element 28 (FIG. 2) for engagement with the hook element 25. In use, the panel 12 is engaged with the frame 11 by inserting the flat element 28 into the hook element 25 and pivoting it towards the frame 11, which is permanently attached to the building. The arrangement is such that this pivoting motion progressively urges the panel 12 into close facial registry or abutment with the frame 11. A layer of sealing material is applied to the inward face of the panel 12 to provide sealing engagement when the frame 11 and the panel 12 are thus brought together. They may then be clamped to one another by either screw fasteners, e.g. wing-headed or knob-headed bolts (not shown) screwed into threaded holes 29 provided therefor in the frame 11, or spring-loaded “over-centre clips” which apply the required pressure to effect a watertight seal between the frame 11 and the panel 12.

[0030] Desirably, though not fully shown in FIG. 1, the hook element 25 is provided with a connecting element 26 extending between the base element 21 of the frame 11 and an upwardly extending projection 27 that is directed at an acute angle to the connecting element 26. The arrow in FIG. 1 indicates this inward angling.

[0031] Desirably, though not fully shown in FIG. 2, the depending element 28 of the panel 12 extends at an obtuse angle to the front plane of the panel 12. The arrow in FIG. 2 indicates this inward angling.

[0032] The said acute angle and obtuse angles are preferably supplementary (i.e. together equal 180°). This is considered useful to increase the pressure applied to the layer of sealant material between the frame 11 and the panel 12 when the two are brought pivotally towards one another and clamped by either the “over-centre clips” 30 or the screw fasteners.

[0033] Also not shown, but a useful preferred feature—especially where said building opening is a doorway—is for the panel 12 to be provided with mutually spaced, upwardly directed recesses to accommodate the upright elements 22, 23 of the building-attached frame 11.

[0034] The embodiment illustrated schematically in FIG. 3 is similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 2 and like parts are therefore referenced by like numerals with the addition of 100. The holes 129 of the frame 111 of FIG. 3 are placed differently to holes 29, two per upright 122, 123 in this example. The removable panel 112 is provided with holes 119 that register with holes 129 to accommodate the screw fasteners, e.g. wing-headed or knob-headed bolts (not shown), if used, or spring-loaded “over-centre clips” that apply the required pressure to effect a water-tight seal. Likewise, each upright 122, 123 has two through holes 124 for use in screwing the frame 111 to the wall of the building around a doorway opening. In this illustrated example, the upstanding lip 127 has a height of about 10 mm and the connecting strip 126 has approximately the same width dimension of 10 mm. The angle of inward inclination of the lip 127 to the horizontal and/or the angle of outward inclination of the depending element 128 to the vertical may be of the order of 42°. FIG. 3 also illustrates the recesses 120 to accommodate and, if required, partially cover, the upright elements 122, 123 of the building-attached frame 111.

[0035] To provide anti-flooding apparatus for an airbrick, an arrangement such as that described above for a doorway opening may be provided but modified not only in size but also with the frame (11 or 111) comprising an upper element extending between the upright side elements such that the frame (11 or 111) can encompass the buildings opening (that is provided by the airbrick), the panel (12 or 112) being then releasably attachable to the frame (11 or 111) such as to extend also between the base element (21 or 121) and the upper element (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0036] An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 4 where the airbrick is surrounded by a frame 211 (shown from the rear) that has a base element 221 extending between a pair of spaced apart upright elements 222, 223 for permanent sealed attachment to the building about the building's airbrick opening. Screwing the frame 211 to the wall of the building about the airbrick through holes 224, and injecting a mastic or other suitable sealant between the abutting surfaces will effect such permanent sealed attachment. The panel 212 is releasably attachable to the frame 211 such that, when engaged, the panel 212 extends between the two upright elements 222, 223 and provides sealed engagement against the upright elements 222, 223 and the base element 221. As shown in FIG. 4, said frame 211 additionally comprises an upper element 225 such that the frame 211 can encompass the airbrick opening, and the panel 212 can extend also between the base element 221 and the upper element 225 and be clamped to the frame 211 by spring-loaded “over-centre clips” 230 that apply the required pressure to effect a water-tight seal.

[0037] In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the upstanding lip 227 has a height of about 10 mm and the connecting strip 226 has an approximate width dimension of 10 mm or 11 mm. The angle of inward inclination of the lip 227 to the horizontal and/or the angle of outward inclination of the depending element 228 to the vertical may be of the order of 42°.

[0038] The modifications of FIGS. 5 and 6 each provide a frame 211 with the upright elements formed of either 30 mm×5 mm flat metal bar or 20 mm×20 mm square box section metal with hooks 231 affixed on the top element to “catch” the spring-loaded “over-centre clips” 230 required, along with the bottom element, to enable the panel 212 to form a water-tight seal. The dimensions of these two embodiments differ from one another (and from that of FIG. 4) in length and height, to suit airbricks of different sizes.

[0039] Other modifications and embodiments of the invention, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art, are to be deemed within the ambit and scope of the invention, and the particular embodiments hereinbefore described may be varied in construction and detail, e.g. interchanging (where appropriate or desired) different features of each, without departing from the scope of the present invention. 

1. Anti-flooding apparatus for at least resisting ingress of flood water into an opening of a building, said apparatus comprising: a frame having a pair of spaced apart upright elements, a base element extending therebetween, and a hook element provided on the base element, said frame being adapted for permanent sealed attachment to a building about an opening thereof; and a panel adapted for releasable attachment to said frame such that said panel extends between said upright elements and is urged against said upright elements and said base element by said hook element thereby to provide sealed engagement.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the panel is provided with a depending element adapted for engagement with the hook element on the frame, such that said panel may be brought into registration with the frame by inserting said depending element between said hook element and the upright elements, and pivoting said panel about said hook element.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the hook element comprises a connecting element and an upwardly extending projection directed at an acute angle thereto, said connecting element extending between the base element and said upwardly extending projection.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the depending element extends at an obtuse angle relative to a front plane of the panel.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said acute and obtuse angles are supplementary.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the hook element extends along substantially the entire length of the base element.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the depending element extends along substantially the entire length of an edge of the panel.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frame additionally comprises an upper element also extending between the upright side elements such that said frame is capable of encompassing an opening of a building, and the panel is adapted for releasable attachment to the frame such 5 that said panel extends also between the base element and said upper element.
 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said panel is provided with upwardly-directed recesses adapted to receive the upright elements of the frame.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a layer of sealing material is applied to an inward face of said panel to provide said sealed engagement when the frame and the panel are brought together.
 11. A method for at least resisting ingress of flood water into an opening of a building, said method comprising the steps of: permanently attaching a frame to a building about an opening thereof, said frame having a pair of spaced apart upright elements, a base element extending therebetween, and a hook element provided on the base element; and releasably attaching a panel to the frame, such that said panel extends between the upright elements of the frame and is urged against said upright elements and the base element by the hook element, thereby to provide sealed engagement. 